Inner Conflict — X

"Absolutely not."

Ichigo clenched his fists. He knew if he didn't, he'd end up taking a swing at Yamamoto. And that wouldn't have been good. "Captains Kira and Komamura are currently taking a group to the living world to deal with the current invasion. They will be able to handle it just fine. You're not necessary there, Captain Kurosaki."

"Like hell I'm not!" Ichigo snapped angrily. "That's my home they're invading, you can't stop me from—!"

"The fact that it is your home is not the reason you want to go. You expect Kuchiki Rukia to be there. It's exactly why you can't be allowed to get involved."

"Kira and Komamura aren't familiar with the living world!" Ichigo shouted, avoiding the fact that Yamamoto was completely right. "If Rukia is there — and I'm not saying I expect her to be— she'll have a huge advantage of them. It makes sense to send someone who has the same advantage, doesn't it?!"

"That is something for me to worry about. Not you. This conversation is over. You're dismissed."

Ichigo resisted the urge to hit a wall as he stormed out of the first division conference room. Hitsugaya was waiting outside for him.

"That went well."

"Old geezer can't stop me." Ichigo said furiously as they started walking. "It has nothing to do with Rukia, and I don't care what he thinks — I'm going. I still have friends and family there. I'm not going to abandon them just because he wants me to."

Toushirou didn't answer. Because he knew Ichigo was lying — or half lying, anyway. The idea of meeting Rukia was Ichigo's motivation for going. Toushirou felt the exact same way about Momo.

"And…exactly what do you plan to do about it?" Toushirou asked skeptically. Ichigo scowled, obviously furious.

"I'm not exactly opposed to disobeying orders." Toushirou thought about this for a moment.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Captain Komamura and Captain Kira." Rukia muttered, running her hand over the hilt of her Zanpakatou. She almost felt cheated. She'd wanted to see Ichigo…but at the same time, this was okay with her. Seeing Ichigo meant fighting Ichigo. She couldn't do that.

"Isshin and Urahara are defending the east border." She murmured to Momo. "Yoruichi in the west. Ishida's north. And then the captains are in the south."

"So how do we do this?" Momo asked quietly. "Any of them would take us out before we could even draw our swords."

Rukia closed her eyes, trying to think. They'd already sent some Arrancar ahead to test the defenses, but she already knew it was a lost effort. They would be lucky if one of those soldiers came back. "Aizen's going about this all wrong." She muttered, annoyed. "A direct attack isn't the way to go here."

"Why don't you tell him that?"

"I'm not going to help anymore than what he's making me do." Rukia snapped, opening her eyes again. Momo flinched and stepped backwards. "All right." Rukia took a deep breath. "I think I know what we can do."

"Please say it involves going back and telling Capt— Aizen that we couldn't get into the city." Rukia laughed bitterly.

"I wish. C'mon, we're heading north."

It took Momo a minute to process that. "Wait. North? But Rukia-san, Ishida-kun is—"

The raven-haired Shinigami was already walking away.

Uryu stiffened as two familiar reiatsus turned in his direction. Hinamori and Rukia. What, he wondered, were they planning? They'd already sent a couple of Arrancar his way, which he had easily dispatched. But now all was quiet again. What were those two up to?

Uryu waited, his bow at his side, ready to attack whenever he caught sight of him. But though they were obviously moving towards him, they weren't actually heading for him. It was almost like they were dancing out of his sight. And they were alone. Strange. They'd dispatched their little army in other directions. Uryu wondered if they expected to break through their defenses. They had to know how slim those chances were.

"I wish you would tell me what you're planning." Momo whispered, watching Rukia's carefully blank face. She had no idea what was going on in her friend's mind. Part of her wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Momo-san you grew up in the Rukongai, didn't you?" Momo was taken back by the question.

"Y-Yeah…I did. You know I did. Why do you ask?"

Rukia took a moment before answering. "You know I did as well. Renji and I and our friends…we lived in one of the worst parts. It was amazing we survived as long as we did." She sighed. "But we did survive. Because we knew what we were doing. The people in the Rukongai were all a bunch of greedy bastards. And they were cocky. They underestimated what five kids could do when they put their minds together. They underestimated how well we could plan something."

Momo still wasn't following. "You've lost me, Rukia-san."

Rukia closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "Feel that, Momo-san? As we speak, the army we brought is being obliterated. Luckily we brought a few thousand. Even stretched over the border, it'll take awhile to destroy them all."

"I get that. I still don't get it though…why didn't we send anyone to attack the northern border too?"

"Just be ready to move when I say so, Momo-san."

It happened suddenly. Momo and Rukia had been standing still. Uryu had been concentrating on them, making sure he knew exactly where they were — he knew he was their target, after all. But with all his concentration focused in one place, he didn't notice the Arrancar come up behind him until it was almost too late.

He whirled around, just barely saving himself from a gruesome fate. He moved his attention back to Rukia and Momo, only to find that they had moved. He looked around just in time to catch sight of Rukia's normally vivid — though now dull — violet eyes.

"Hadou number one — Shou."

It felt as if something invisible had taken a-hold of Uryu's body. His knees gave out beneath and he fell to the ground, his limbs useless. He was completely at Rukia's mercy.

He glared up at the Shinigami in question. "Why are you doing this?" He demanded, his voice cold. "What reason could you possibly have?"

"That's my business." Her voice was cold, calculating. Momo peaked around her, a little surprised.

"You did it…"

Rukia looked away from Uryu, back to Momo. "Let's go."

And they walked away. Uryu just stared after them. What had been the point of immobilizing him if they hadn't planned to kill him?

Momo was impressed. Though she still didn't completely understand what Rukia was thinking, it was obvious that she knew what she was doing. She'd understood that a direct attack wouldn't work. So she'd taken a different approach.

Momo was definitely impressed.

Rukia stopped dead, catching Momo off guard. She walked right into her friend. "Ow…sorry Rukia-san—"

She froze, seeing what Rukia saw. A gate was opening right in front of them. "Reinforcements?" Rukia murmured, her eyes narrowed. But Momo recognized the spiritual pressures. No. Not reinforcements.

Ichigo and Toushirou stepped out of the gate. It disappeared behind them, leaving them in darkness. A quick, vehement string of curses escaped Rukia's lips. This she hadn't expected. Yamamoto obviously didn't know these two had come.

"Knew we'd find you two here." Ichigo spoke quietly, his eyes locking on Rukia. She didn't respond, and instead looked away from him.

"Hinamori…" Momo bit her lip to keep from responding. God she wanted to…but that would have been dangerous.

She really hated this.

"Can't we talk?" Ichigo almost pleaded. "Please…let us help you. You don't have to be traitors. Whatever Aizen's done to get you two to resort to this, we'll help you get out of it, we promise. Just please…please come home."

Rukia bit her lip, drawing her Zanpakatou slowly. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Ichigo's eyes widen her surprise. "There's nothing to talk about." She murmured, not trusting herself to speak any louder. She flew forward, sword raised, beginning the attack.

Momo looked away from Rukia, knowing that she would not want any witnesses for this, and instead focused on Toushirou, who was watching her, his eyes silently begging her to see reason. Too bad she was already seeing reason. Just a little too clearly. She drew her Zanpakatou. Biting her lip until she could taste blood. Sorry Shirou-chan, she apologized silently before running forward.

Damn it! Ichigo swore silently as he swung Zangetsu down, blocking Rukia's attack. He'd never thought that her height — something he'd always teased her about — would actually give her an advantage. But it did. She easily ducked in and out of his sight, bowing around him and easily dodging his attacks. Her attacks were almost impossible to see. Ichigo had come close to being impaled more than once.

"C'mon Rukia, this is—" He ducked, barely missing having his head taken off. Damn this girl was dangerous. He wasn't sure he liked having to fight her.

No. He knew he didn't like having to fight her.

She disappeared from his sight. Ichigo swore furiously as he looked around, trying to find her again. Now more than ever he wished she had grown another foot. It would make her so much easier to fight.

A flash of silver caught his eye. He whirled around just in time to have Rukia slice neatly down his arm, from his elbow right to his wrist.

Oh damn, damn! Rukia swore over and over as she backed off, blood dripping slowly from the end of her sword. Ichigo's blood. Damn it!

Ichigo clutched his arm, his own, shock-filled amber eyes meeting her's. She struggled to look indifferent.

Toushirou swung his Zanpakatou up, blocking Hinamori's. She pulled back quickly, moving in from the side this time. Toushirou jumped away, landing a few feet from her. "Hinamori—" He tried again. She ran at him, sword raised, eyes determined. She hadn't let him finish a sentence yet.

Momo attacked again and again, putting no effort into the attacks. She was just trying to keep Toushirou distracted. He'd tried to talk to her, again and again, but she wouldn't let him. If he talked to her…she'd snap. And that wouldn't be good to do. She was trying to keep him safe, after all. She couldn't put him danger with her secrets.

"Well, well, Aizen won't be happy to hear about this." A disappointed voice said. Momo and Toushirou looked around at the same time, their eyes landing on…

"Ichimaru." Toushirou said the voice with much venom. Ichimaru didn't even acknowledge the white-haired captain.

Rukia appeared at Momo's side. The two exchanged looks before walking silently towards Gin. They could already tell that this fight was long lost. They were almost happy to be able to go back to Hueco Mundo.

"Rukia!"

She didn't look around as Ichigo called her name. Toushirou barely acknowledged the man as he came up beside him, clutching his bleeding arm. "Rukia, don't—"

"Shut up, Ichigo." Her voice was barely more than whisper. But it silenced Ichigo. Hinamori's eyes connected with Toushirou's. He saw a world of hurt, of pain, hidden behind those dark brown eyes. She looked away quickly, as if afraid she had somehow said too much.

And then all three were gone. Ichigo and Toushirou stared at the spot where Rukia and Momo had stood. Remorse, then disbelief flooded through them as they realized how close the women they loved had stood. And still they hadn't been able to save them.

"You knew, Rukia-san, that the invasion would fail. I wonder, why did you feel that wasn't something I needed to know?"

Rukia glared at the floor. Unlike Hinamori, she refused to kneel before Aizen. Hinamori did it with a look of pure disgust, but she didn't want to take the chances of infuriating her former captain. Rukia didn't mind pushing her luck.

"It's not my place." She said shortly, narrowing her eyes angrily. "I'm just…a servant. You're the one who makes decisions like that…Aizen-sama."

She spit the name out. It left a bad taste in her mouth. Aizen almost smiled as he looked down at the reluctant Shinigami. "Perhaps, Rukia-san, but you know more about Karakura Town than I do. I would…value your opinion when it comes to matters involving that place."

Translation: tell me anything that might interfere with my chances. That's what you're here for. Rukia scowled.

Aizen looked down on the two Shinigami for a moment before coming to a decision. "Momo-san, you're dismissed. Rukia-san, I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

Momo pushed herself up, her eyes shifting slightly to look at Rukia. She wouldn't leave if Rukia didn't want to. But the violet-eyed Shinigami jerked her head once, nodding. Momo turned and left without sparing Aizen a glance. Rukia turned to glare up Aizen, who regarded her calmly.

"You're unhappy."

"What ever gave you that idea?" Rukia asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I wonder if maybe you already regret the decision you made. If you're freedom from this place is more important to you then Kurosaki's life." The words froze Rukia's blood. But she was already on another train of thought.

"You say you can have them killed whenever you want." She said slowly. "That's why Momo-san and I are here. But how? You've already proven you can get into Soul Society undetected…but I'm sure they've changed the security, it'd probably be more difficult to get in now. Killing Ichigo and Captain Hitsugaya isn't a job I'd leave to foot soldiers. Hell, I doubt even an Espada could handle Ichigo. So tell me, Aizen-sama, how do you plan to kill Ichigo if I decide this isn't for me anymore?"

Aizen's smile didn't waver through Rukia's speech. "Perhaps," he said when she was done, "you haven't noticed, Rukia-san, but Soul Society tends to be quite slow on the uptake. It's almost impossible for them to notice when a spy is in their midst."

It took Rukia a second to realize what this meant. "You have a spy within Soul Society?" She guessed, her voice flat. She was more than willing to believe that, except she still didn't see how that would help with killing Hitsugaya or Ichigo.

"You still don't understand." It wasn't a question. "Rukia-san, tell me this: how hard would it be, really, to just kill a person in their sleep?"

Rukia thought for a moment. Ichigo was such a heavy sleeper, killing him would take no effort at all. Killing a person in general would be easy, if they were deeply enough asleep.

"You're lying." She whispered finally, unwilling to believe.

"Do you really want to gamble Kurosaki's life on that chance?"

Nobody spoke for the longest time. Ichigo and Hitsugaya could feel the heavy stares of the captains surrounding them. They wished somebody would break the silence. "You won't be punished." Yamamoto said finally, though it was obvious he didn't agree with this. "Yet. We need every soldier we can get right now. Don't think their won't be consequences though. You both disobeyed direct orders. If this was not a time of war, you would both be in serious trouble. Consider yourselves lucky."

Ichigo snorted. Lucky. Right. "How's your arm?" Hitsugaya murmured as they left. Around them, the other captains spoke in low voices.

"Fine." Ichigo said, rubbing his arm. "Unohana said there's going to be a scar. No way to avoid that. She got it pretty deep."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "I knew we shouldn't have gone there."

"If we hadn't, we could have lost the town." Ichigo reminded the boy. "Rukia knew what she was doing — using the Arrancar as a distraction while she and Momo snuck in was a damn good idea. Like Renji said, when you grow up where they did, you get good at being sneaky. Aizen wasn't messing around when he chose his players for this game."

Hitsugaya couldn't disagree with that. He scowled, hating that Ichigo was actually making sense. "Think we'll have to fight them again?"

"I'd…pretty much guarantee it." Ichigo sighed. The next fight was something neither of them were looking forward to.

Author's Note: SORRY! In that sorry, I apologize for two things: 1) I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I'm working on a new story right now that's pretty much dominating my time. B) Sorry this chapter was terrible. The problem is, this story was meant to be more of a psychological torture thing (hense the name). Direct fights were never really meant to be in it. Luckily, I don't plan on doing too many.

Story!:

Title: Dawn at Dusk

Rating: T

Summary: —AU, IchiRuki— To everyone else, Kurosaki Ichigo was just another person to avoid. Rukia, on the other hand, saw everything in him that was worth fighting for.

I don't really plan on publishing it. But I'm willing to hand out the first chapter to a few people who might be interested. Review and let me know: A) What you thought of the chapter and 2) if you want to read the first chapter of Dawn at Dusk (which is a title I'm very fond of, by the way)